I have entered a 6/8 song into BiaB by dividing each bar in half and converting it to 3/4. I doubled the time for each note to be held, then just made the tempo faster to compensate. This seems to have worked accept for one bar that has a triplet.

Here is the song:
https://imgur.com/vdUQLkZ

The first bar on the last line is giving me problems.
https://imgur.com/k8HcJpU

As far as I can tell, the last 3 notes in this bar are each 2/3 of an 8th note. If I double that , I get 2/3 of a quarter note. How do I make 2/3 of a quarter note in 3/4 time? I tried changing the resolution of the last 2 notes to 3 instead of 4. It came out like this:
https://imgur.com/gallery/H2uvCbN

It sounds ok but looks wrong.

Any ideas?

use a swing style, or set the screen options to triplet

The problem is the triplet is spread over 2 quarter notes.

Hi Lesley,

When I look at this sheet music, I see that it's one of the harder melodies to enter into BIAB. This is because of the dotted 1/8th notes and the 1/16th notes that occur throughout as well as the triplet you mention.

Like Dave, I would choose to use a 4/4 swing time signature, too. The reason for this is that a swing style divides each 1/4 beat into three and this is perfect for imitating three of the 1/8th notes in 6/8. Thus two 1/4 note beats will very comfortably accommodate one bar of 6/8.

This means that one bar of a 4/4 swing style will cover two bars of 6/8. To enter the the dotted 1/8th notes and the 1/16th notes, I would use piano roll mode (alternatively, it would be possible to enter a note on the 'line' and then edit it to shift it right by 20 ticks to create a 1/16th note.

Once the melody is entered, BIAB's new option available in Notation Mode to set the time signature to "6/8 (split barlines)" should make the display look like the sheet music.

I'll notate the page of melody that you've provided and then make a link available to you so that you can test it.

Regards,
Noel

Hi Lesley,

The below works for me on my computer. Let us know how it looks for you. It might be that you need to activate a couple of settings that I have in place.

Cragieburn Wood (MGU file)

Unfortunately, while it's possible to get the 1/8th note triplet to play correctly, it's not possible to get it to display correctly (at least, I've not managed to accomplish it).

The thing to keep in mind with 6/8 is that it is a time signature that challenges BIAB. What you are wanting to achieve with this song is pushing the boundaries of what's possible and so one needs to apply a bit of lateral thinking to accomplish it (as you've already discovered with using a fast waltz for 6/8).

Hope this helps in some way,
Noel

• my latest song: Deciduous Love (Rock Ballad)

Thanks very much, Noel. That works!
On your file I changed the tempo to 60, and it goes the same speed as my 3/4 version set to 120 tempo, which makes sense, I guess.

But I have to say I don't really understand what "swing" time is Is the only difference between swing and even the resolution of a quarter note?

I wonder if BiaB will ever have get built in 6/8 time. Maybe 6/8 time isn't very popular.

Hi Lesley,

I'm glad it works for you.

And yes... the only difference between swing (sw) and even (EV) times is the resolution of the quarter note beat.

For what it's worth, I used the Piano Roll Editor to enter the notation for this song.

Regards,
Noel

Hi Lesley,

Some music circles call swing by a different name, shuffle. A good way to determine if a song passage is swing or even is to listen to what the foundation instruments (typically drums, percussion and bass in popular music) are doing.

In Band-in-a-Box select two styles that play sixteenth notes but otherwise are similar. By that I mean the styles use the same instruments (midi, Super midi or RealTracks) and are played at the same tempo. One of the styles needs to be even and the other swing.

Throw together a few chords and select playback. Once you feel comfortable with the groove, swap to the second style and get a feel for it.

Now, mute all instruments except for the bass and drums. Especially pay attention to what the drummer is playing on the high hat or ride cymbal. The drummer may be hitting the high hat or ride cymbal the same number of times for each bar but the timing of the hits should differ. Even styles have the hits occur exactly each sixteenth note. Swing styles have hits irregularly spaced.

If you were to count the hits on the even style the 16 count would be "one e and a two e and a three e and a four e and a" while the swing count would be " one eand a two eand a three eand a four eand a". Same number of hits but unevenly spaced.